Archers, particularly hunters, are commonly confronted with a variety of conditions which call for quick reaction to events of limited duration. In game or on the hunt, the speed with which an archer can aim and draw an arrow is often determinative of success. Because of this emphasis on readiness, it is not unusual for archers to load arrows well before they expect to shoot. Loading involves both supporting the mid portion of the arrow shaft upon an arrow rest or other support surface positioned near the center of the body of the bow, and nocking the nock end of the arrow upon the undrawn bow string. For convenience and speed, experienced archers are often able to place the shaft of an arrow on its support and nock the arrow to the bow string in a substantially simultaneous manner. This conventional loading process requires, however, that the archer be able to advance the arrow to the support surface from a direction which is lateral to the longitudinal axis of its shaft.
After loading the arrow, an archer in the field is often confronted with a variety of conditions which call for repeated aiming, drawing and retracting the arrow before making an actual shot. Sometimes the bow must be tilted in order to effect the required shot. Because of these adjustments, which precede the final draw and release, the arrow shaft can often easily be dislodged from the arrow rest. In such cases the archer must often reload at the expense of time. In some cases, particularly where an archer must rapidly adjust his aim while drawing, the arrow shaft may even fall from the support surface just as the arrow is being shot. When this occurs, spurious, and potentially dangerous, shots are likely.
Various types of devices have been developed to deal with the problem of preventing a loaded arrow from falling from its bow support. Slanted or stepped rests have been designed to bias the loaded arrow shaft toward the body of the bow. While these rests have proven somewhat successful in preventing arrow slippage, they are clearly of limited benefit where an arrow may be dislocated vertically or otherwise sufficiently dislodged to overcome the bias of the rest. The biased support surface can in some instances even affect the accuracy of the shot. Other devices clamp to the arrow shaft, sometimes with sufficient force to hold the arrow in drawn position. While these devices are useful for holding an arrow onto a bow for extended periods of time, they generally must be released before the arrow can be repeatedly drawn and retracted. Thus the potential for dislocation is restored just when some archers require the aid of a holding device. Another type of device flexibly contacts the arrow shaft so that the arrow is engaged both upon loading and during propulsion. These devices can affect the accuracy of the shot both by biasing the arrow during propulsion, and by affecting an archer's tactile control of the drawn arrow. Moreover, some of the devices scrape against the arrow shaft sufficiently to damage the guide fins of conventional arrows. Additional arrow holding devices completely surround the periphery of an arrow shaft and require loading the arrow in a longitudinal rather than lateral manner. Such devices typically have arms which engage and position the arrow shaft both before and during propulsion.